House-Saver Blog

Sunday, 12 February 2017

Renting out your home through AirBnB could be in breach of your mortgage or lease agreement.

Many mortgages do not allow you to sublet your home without your lenders consent.

If you are are a leaseholder, you might also be in breach of your lease.

The risks were highlighted in the Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Ltd Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), which found an AirBnB host to be in breach of her lease.

House Saver's advice - The law is still catching up with the sharing economy so take precautions. Let your mortgage lender know if you are intending to rent out your home through AirBnB. If you are a leaseholder, also make sure that check the terms of your lease.

Saturday, 7 January 2017

To keep on the right side of planning laws in London, as of this month Airbnb is automatically limiting "entire homes listings" in Greater London to 90 nights a year.

The change only applies to London. The change will not affect those who let spare rooms in their home or who let their entire home for fewer than 90 days in a year.

Even with these restrictions, renting your London home through Airbnb continues to be highly lucrative. According to the real estate valuation firm Propcision, rents for Airbnb properties in London are on average more than double the rents paid on longer term tenancies.

Thursday, 9 April 2015

Until last week, under a law dating back to 1973*, any Londoner who wanted to rent out their home for a few days had to apply for planning permission, or else face a fine of up to £20,000 for each ‘offence’.The Deregulation Act 2015 repeals this legislation. Londoners can now take advantage of websites allowing short-term rents without fear that they are committing an offence.About time too! 1973 was the year that the UK entered the European Economic Community, the Vietnam War ended and the Watergate scandal erupted. Much has happened over the 42 years since.London residents can now participate in the sharing economy, and enjoy the same freedom and flexibility as the rest of the country to let their homes on a temporary basis.Whilst red tape continues to hold back the sharing economy at least we are moving in the right direction.